Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
ENFIELD
The window closest to the front door is open a couple inches. I sit on the wide sill and watch as my mother rings and rings and rings the doorbell, between hitting the door with the bottom of her fisted hand and yelling my name, demanding I stop being a child and open the door.
Not going to lie; the doorbell sitting this close to the door is fucking deafening, especially as she continuously rings it. Not just a single push of the button, but like three or four at a time.
I hit the dial button and wait for an answer as I watch her.
“Sun Haven Police Department. How can I help you?”
The doorbell goes off again. Three loud dongs overlap. “There’s a crazy woman at my door demanding entrance. I’ve told her many times to leave over the last two weeks, and she keeps showing up. I’d like her escorted off the property and charged with harassment and trespassing.”
My mother conveniently gives a very loud demand that I open the door and let her in when I finish my statement. It’s followed by pounding on the door.
“Address?” the woman asks.
I repeat Xavi’s address.
“We’ll be there momentarily. Do you feel safe? Do you need to remain on the phone?”
“I feel safe. Just harassed.”
“Very well. We’ll be there soon, sir.”
The call ends, and I hit the record button on my phone and prop it against the screen so it captures my mother’s antics as much as possible. This’ll be sent to Nash. I wince when she jabs the doorbell again.
“What the hell?”
I turn at Sparrow’s voice. He and Xavi are coming around the corner, Xavi with his hands over his ears as he glares at the door.
Seeing that Sparrow is on his way to throw the door open, I sprint across the space to intercept and push them away. “Police are on their way,” I supply.
“You’re having her arrested?” Xavi asks.
“Yes. I’m feeling harassed. Aren’t you?”
He scowls. “Yes. Very.”
“You’ve asked her to leave multiple times, haven’t you?”
Xavi nods again. “Yes. At least three.”
“And you have a digital doorbell, no?”
He smirks. “You know I do.”
“Good. I’d like all her visits sent to me, please. They’re good evidence for Nash.”
“As soon as the incessant ringing stops.”
I grip the sleeve of his shirt and tug him toward the window, letting him go after it’s clear I want him to follow. Both men do, and together, we watch out the window as my mother demands entrance and an audience. We arrive at the window just as two police cruisers pull into the driveway.
My mother is so caught up in trying to force her way in that she doesn’t notice them. Not until a loud whooop from the siren announces their presence, and my mother spins as three officers approach, one with his hand on his gun.
“Ma’am, hands where we can see them,” one calls as they slowly approach.
My mother doesn’t move. She’s frozen right where she is. Staring.
The officer whose hand is on his gun adjusts to bring it up, and my mother’s hands fly into the air. “This is a misunderstanding. My son lives here. I’m visiting him. You’ll see. Just let me get him out here.”
“Is that our cue?” Xavi asks.
“Nope. Wait until she’s in cuffs,” I say.
We watch as the officers approach, and my mother continues babbling, trying to demand that there’s been a mistake, and she’s going to have her lawyers on them if they cuff her.
One of the officers rings the doorbell, and I nod. “That’s our cue.”
I head for the door and pull it open.
“See?” Mom demands, grinning as if she’s one. “Enfield, tell them this is a misunderstanding.”
“I’d like to charge her with trespassing and harassment,” I respond, and she stares at me, horrified.
“I’ve asked repeatedly for her to stay away and leave me alone.
I’ve had to block no less than a dozen phone numbers because she won’t stop calling me.
She’s shown up here at least as many times, incessantly ringing the bell, pounding on the door, and screaming.
I want her to go away and never set foot on this property again. ”
My mother is pissed. “This isn’t even your house!” she shrieks.
“It’s mine,” Xavi says and steps forward. I shift to the side so he can join me at the threshold. “Xavi Adair.”
One of the officers smiles at him. “Mr. Adair. Good to see you, son.”
Xavi smiles. “You too, Mr. Fellagh.” He looks at my mother. “I’ve asked her to leave multiple times. The last eight, maybe nine times she’s been here, I simply stopped answering the door, and she carries on for, at minimum, ten minutes. I’d like to charge her with harassment.”
Oh, Mom did not expect that! I’m almost giddy at the look of horror on her face as she stares at Xavi. “You’re going to be my son-in-law and this is how you treat me?” she hollers as two of the officers drag her away. “I’ll be calling your mother, Xavi!”
Xavi rolls his eyes. “That’s okay. The video feeds of your frequent visits are already with my lawyer, and my mother is aware of your embarrassing behavior, Mrs. Undergrove.”
My god, I want to laugh maniacally. This is far too good to be true. I love everything about this. Some little, tiny, eensy, bitty satisfaction for all the hell I’ve felt over the last decade.
My mother is still yelling, now demanding that I call my father and tell him I’m having my own mother arrested. Instead, I stand there with a smirk and watch her being guided into the back of a police cruiser.
“Are you truly interested in charging your mother, Mr. Undergrove? Mr. Adair?” Officer Fellagh asks.
“Oh, definitely.” I pull out a card with Nash’s information. “Here’s my lawyer’s number. He’s been keeping track of her constant appearances. Xavi has the digital doorbell recordings of her antics, too.”
The officer nods as he looks between us. “Very well. Is there anything else? You’re both okay?”
“We’re fine,” Xavi says. “Thanks for showing up so quickly.”
“Of course. You two have a good day. Call if you need anything further.” He inclines his head and turns back to the cruisers. My mother is still carrying on in the backseat, though with the door closed, I can’t hear her.
We stand in the door, and wait for them to drive off. Once their headlights disappear around the corner, I look at Xavi. “Thanks for the support.”
“If I didn’t think you’d have been upset, I’d have asked for someone to come get her last week,” he answers.
I shake my head. “I wouldn’t have been upset.”
“At the time, you can’t blame me for avoiding asking you.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” We step back inside, and I head for my phone while Xavi shuts the door. After I end the recording, I send it straight to Nash. “Really, I’m sorry. Truly.”
“I know. We’re over that now.”
“Are you really charging your parents?” Sparrow asks, highly amused.
“Definitely. It’s time my damn mother understood that there are consequences to her actions. Nash gave me permission, too. It’ll work in our favor that we have it on public record that she’s been harassing us after we’ve constantly asked her to go away.”
“So… everything is on track, then?” Xavi asks.
I smile and head for the stairs. “Yep. We’re good. Almost over, Xavi.” Once he nods, I turn and head upstairs to call Nash. I should give him time to watch the video, but I’m anxious. No, I’m giddy. Fuck yeah. Excitement flutters in my chest. Finally!
Before I can hit dial, there’s a light tap on my door, and I look up. Xavi is standing there. He shifts awkwardly on his feet when I meet his eyes. He’s nervous.
“What’s up?”
“I, uh… Okay, I really appreciate that there’s peace in the house and we’re getting along, so at the risk of stirring the pot, I’m hoping that maybe we can… talk?”
I let my phone drop to my side, clicking the button to turn the screen off. “All right. What about?”
“Well, just all of this.”
“You have more questions?”
He shifts his weight. I’m being rude. I gesture toward the chair, wordlessly inviting him in. He nods, enters the room, and sits where I indicated. I join him in a chair somewhat perpendicular. “Let’s talk.”
“I don’t want you to get angry again.”
“That’s fair,” I agree. “I understand your concern, and you have every right to be concerned that I’m going to become a dickwad again. I’m not. I promise you that I’m not an angry or mean person.”
He gives me a skeptical look, and I laugh.
“It took me more than a week to agree to this plan because the idea that I’d be really screwing with someone’s feelings upset me.
I didn’t want to hurt anyone in the process, but it’s my only option in more than ten years to get to this point where there’s a light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel.
You being a guy should have made it easier.
I don’t feel anything toward guys, but… it didn’t.
I hated hurting you just as much as I’d have hated hurting a woman in your position. ”
“Because I’m innocent? Because you kept me in the dark?”
I shrug. “I don’t know the why. It doesn’t really matter why.
I think it’s the whole thing. In my escapades, I’ve tried hard not to hurt anyone else.
My efforts were concentrated on myself and focused on my reputation and family connections.
The screw ups I’ve made, I’ve learned from, and I haven’t and will never repeat. ”
Xavi takes a breath. “The odds that your plan is going to work?”
“Very high.”
“Like, there’s no way that it can fail, or is there a chance that it can?”
He’s fishing for something specific, I think. “I suppose there’s a chance. That’s why Nash is being so thorough and we’re not in a dramatic hurry to get this over with. I’ve waited thirteen years. What’s another few months?”
“Sure. So… there’s a chance it could fail, though?”
“I wouldn’t have gone through with it if I thought it would fail.”
“Enfield, I need—”
“Yes,” I interrupt. “There’s a small chance that it will fail, but a chance all the same.”
“That’s what I want to talk about.”
“Look, Xavi. All negative assholery aside, I meant what I said. I don’t expect you to be miserable forever. You can have an affair. You can pursue…” My words trail off when he begins shaking his head in frustration.
“No. I don’t want that.”
“Xavi, I’m not gay. I’m not interested in men.”
He sighs in exasperation. “I know. This isn’t about that.
I just want to know that we can continue to live in peace.
I want to be… friendly. I don’t want something so cold that we’re just cordial.
I don’t want to feel alone and unwanted and creep around my house to avoid running into you like I did for a couple days. ”
“We don’t have to live in the same place.”
“Enfield!”
I laugh. “Sorry.”
“You keep running, and I just want to talk this out.”
“Okay, okay. Tell me what you want.”
“I just did. I want to be friendly. I guess… maybe I want to be friends.”
“All right. Then we’ll be friends.”
“Just like that?”
“Yes. If this plan fails, we’ll live as a married couple who are simply platonic friends.”
“Oh. Okay. Good.”
“You don’t sound satisfied.”
“Where will we live?”
“We can live wherever we want. You can stay here if you want. I’m moving back to Napa Valley.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s where my kids are.”
“Oh, right," he says and looks around my room. “I never wanted kids,” he says quietly.
“I did,” I admit. “I just didn’t want them dictated to me.
I didn’t want someone to tell me when to have them, who to have them with, and that they’re a stipulation to gain something else.
Children should be wanted above all else, and forcing people to have children who don’t want any is a shitty thing to do. ”
“Yes!” he exclaims. “Yes, exactly that. I’ve tried to tell my mom that, but my family insists that I need to have kids to fulfill the contract to the fullest extent and unlock certain parts of my inheritance.”
“And that’s shitty.”
Xavi sighs. I’m a little surprised when he relaxes. Finally feeling seen and understood. I get that.
“It’s equally shitty how your parents treat your kids,” he says after a minute.
“It is. Trust me, I was livid after Ronan was born and they refused to acknowledge him as my son. Even after three different paternity tests. In hindsight, I’m actually grateful because it releases them from any of this nonsense, but I agree.
I know it sounds like I hate my family, but I actually love them.
I have an amazing family, and I want my kids to be a part of it, but I want them to be a part of it without my parents, which I’m struggling with figuring out. ”
“That’s why the contract states that we’re supposed to move back to Napa Valley,” Xavi says.
“Yes. I told my parents that they can shove whatever contract up their asses if it states anything other than Napa Valley as my primary residence. I made that clear shortly after Ronan was born because I was fucking certain that my parents would want to know their grandkids.”
“I feel your frustration,” he says.
“It’s the principle now. I don’t want them anywhere near my kids. I don’t want my kids to know them at all.”
“So… if this plan fails and we have to stay married, what role am I expected to be in your kids’ lives?”
“Don’t take this offensively, but I don’t want you in their lives.
” Yep, there’s a little bit of hurt in his eyes as he tries to keep a neutral expression.
“You don’t want to be a father,” I remind him.
“I don’t want anyone in my kids’ lives that will come and go.
I don’t want anyone in their lives who isn’t permanent and who wants to be there every day to love, teach, and spoil them. You don’t want that.”
“It’s weird that I’m slightly hurt by that,” he says with a frown and looks away.
“I get it. It’s the same feeling about my kids and parents. I’m stupidly fucking hurt that they don’t want to know my kids, and yet, I will never let them near my kids while I still have a heartbeat.”
Xavi nods.
I reach across the empty space and grip his wrist. Xavi’s eyes train on my hand for a minute and then meet my eyes. “We’ll be friends. But these details we don’t need to work out until we learn that this won’t work. I’m confident that it will. Okay?”
He smiles, nods. “Yes.”
“See?” I say and sit back, releasing his wrist. “We’re already building our friendship.”
His smile grows. “We are.”